Chapter 4 - SOMEONE WANTED SOPHIA GONE
Dominic did not fire Sophia.
He also did not tell her he trusted her.
Not immediately.
That mattered.
Trust without questions had helped create this disaster.
He walked with police into the staff apartment instead.
Sophia followed.
Her face was pale with anger.
Lily’s small bed sat against one wall.
A paper sun had been taped above it.
Stuffed animals lined the shelf.
Sophia’s dresser stood open.
The gold watch had been found beneath folded sweaters.
Detective Laura Bennett held the evidence bag beneath the light.
Tiny gold case.
Blue enamel star.
Black leather chain.
Exactly as Lily described.
Sebastian’s initials were engraved on the back.
S.V.
Sophia stared.
“I have never seen that before.”
Bennett nodded.
“When was the last time you used this drawer?”
“Yesterday morning.”
“Who has keys?”
“Dominic’s household office. Me.”
“Anyone else?”
“Margaret from linens has an emergency key.”
Dominic looked at Rocco.
“Pull hallway cameras.”
Rocco did.
Nothing.
The staff corridor camera had gone offline for eight minutes during the gala.
Different time from the kitchen camera.
Different administrator access.
Dominic felt cold.
Someone had not simply poisoned Ethan.
They had planned an entire story.
Sebastian’s watch near the cake.
Then planted in Sophia’s room.
If Lily had not described the watch before police found it, the narrative would have been perfect.
Housekeeper resents billionaire employer.
Uses daughter as distraction.
Poison found.
Stolen family heirloom discovered among her belongings.
Sophia whispered:
“They wanted me blamed.”
Bennett nodded.
“Possibly.”
“Why?”
No answer.
Then Lily came running into the doorway before anyone could stop her.
“Mommy!”
Sophia turned.
“Sweetheart, go back upstairs.”
Lily saw the evidence bag.
Her face changed.
“The little clock.”
Everyone froze.
Bennett crouched.
“Lily, have you seen this before?”
Sophia immediately said:
“Don’t lead her.”
The detective nodded.
“Good point.”
She changed direction.
“Tell me what you remember.”
Lily stared at the watch.
“The man had it.”
“Anything else?”
“He dropped it.”
Dominic frowned.
“What?”
Lily nodded.
“On floor.”
“Where?”
“Cold room.”
“Then what?”
“He said bad word.”
Sophia covered her mouth to stop a smile.
Dominic almost did too.
“Did he pick it up?”
“Yes.”
“With which hand?”
Three-year-old blank stare.
Fair.
Lily continued:
“He wiped it.”
“With what?”
“White towel.”
Detective Bennett’s expression sharpened.
If the watch had been wiped after falling in the cake room, forensic traces might remain inside seams.
She sent it to the lab.
Then Lily said:
“Not Mommy man.”
Sophia’s eyes filled.
Dominic looked at her daughter.
“No?”
Lily shook her head with great seriousness.
“Mommy not man.”
The room almost laughed.
Even Bennett.
But the child’s point was useful.
The poisoner had been male.
Sophia could still have planted evidence later, but Lily’s eyewitness account made the frame weaker.
Dominic looked at Sophia.
“I never thought you were the man.”
Her mouth twitched.
“That is reassuring in a very limited way.”
He deserved that.
Police searched the apartment.
Nothing else.
No allergen.
No strange containers.
No financial payments.
No messages.
Sophia’s background remained painfully ordinary.
Widowed at twenty-six.
Husband, Michael Carter, killed in a construction accident.
No criminal history.
Six years employed by Moretti.
Every performance review excellent.
Savings account small.
Medical debt moderate.
No unexplained money.
No motive.
The watch was too perfect.
Dominic began to understand.
Whoever planted it was not trying to prove Sophia guilty to police.
They were trying to make Dominic believe it.
Because men like Dominic Moretti had historically acted before police finished paperwork.
Someone expected him to throw her out.
Or worse.
The thought made him sick.
That afternoon, Sophia packed a suitcase.
Dominic found her in the staff corridor.
“What are you doing?”
“Leaving.”
“No.”
Her eyes flashed.
“That is not your decision.”
He stopped.
Correct.
“I mean I don’t want you to.”
“That is different.”
“Yes.”
She closed the suitcase.
“My daughter was used to frame me.”
“I know.”
“Someone entered our room.”
“I know.”
“Someone knows where she sleeps.”
“I know.”
“Then why would I keep her here?”
Dominic had no good answer.
Security?
The same security had been penetrated.
Walls?
Someone inside had credentials.
His name?
His name was likely the reason danger existed.
Sophia lifted the suitcase.
“I’m taking Lily to my sister’s.”
“Where?”
She stared.
“You do not need the address.”
Another correction.
Another boundary.
Dominic nodded.
“No.”
He thought.
Then:
“Police believe whoever planted the watch may follow you.”
Her face changed.
“You think we’re bait?”
“No.”
The word came out sharper than intended.
“I think Lily is the only person who saw the poisoner.”
Sophia’s hand tightened on the suitcase.
That was the truth neither wanted.
Lily was not only a child who saved Ethan.
She was a witness.
“If I leave,” Sophia whispered, “they may come after her.”
“Yes.”
“If I stay, they already know where she is.”
“Yes.”
“I hate both answers.”
“So do I.”
For a moment, they stood in silence.
Then Dominic said:
“Move upstairs.”
“What?”
“Family wing. Across from Ethan.”
Sophia stared.
“That is not appropriate.”
“Neither is a three-year-old being targeted by someone with security access.”
“Dominic.”
His first name.
Again.
More often lately.
“I can put police outside the suite. Rocco cannot access without being logged. Miles cannot access. Nobody.”
“And you?”
He looked at her.
“I knock.”
That mattered.
Sophia looked away.
“One week.”
“Fine.”
“Not as your employee.”
He frowned.
“What?”
“If Lily and I move into the family wing, my work contract is suspended.”
“Why?”
“Because I need to know I can leave without wondering whether I am losing my job.”
Dominic absorbed that.
“You’re right.”
“I know.”
He almost smiled.
“Suspended.”
She nodded.
That evening, Ethan found out.
He was delighted.
“Lily’s staying upstairs?”
“For a week,” Sophia said.
Lily shouted:
“Sleepover!”
Dominic corrected:
“Security arrangement.”
“Sleepover.”
Ethan sided with Lily.
“Sleepover.”
Dominic surrendered.
For the first time since the poisoning, Ethan laughed.
That sound changed the house.
But not enough.
At nine, Detective Bennett called.
The forensic lab had preliminary results from the watch.
“Dominic.”
“Yes?”
“The exterior was wiped.”
“As Lily said.”
“Yes.”
“But we found material trapped beneath the crown.”
“What?”
“Frosting.”
His stomach tightened.
“So the watch was in the cold room.”
“Yes.”
“Anything else?”
“A partial fingerprint.”
Dominic stopped.
“Whose?”
“We’re running it.”
Pause.
“But there’s something you should know.”
“What?”
“The print is not Sophia Carter’s.”
Relief hit harder than he expected.
He closed his eyes.
“Sebastian?”
“Not a match.”
That stopped him.
“What?”
“The watch belonged to Sebastian.”
“Yes.”
“The print does not.”
“Then who?”
“We need comparison samples from estate staff.”
Within an hour, everyone submitted prints voluntarily.
Rocco.
Miles.
Kitchen workers.
Catering managers.
Dr. Harris.
At midnight, Bennett called again.
Dominic stood outside the guest suite where Sophia and Lily slept.
He answered quietly.
“Tell me.”
“We have a match.”
His jaw tightened.
“Who?”
“Your chief of security.”
Dominic stopped breathing.
“Miles Corbin.”
The man who had designed Ethan’s protective protocols.
The man who controlled cameras.
The man who had been inside Sebastian’s security review.
The man who knew exactly where Sophia slept.
Miles had touched the watch after it fell into the frosting.
And if Lily’s memory was right, he had been the man wearing it while he tried to kill Ethan.
There was only one problem.
At the exact time the cake was poisoned, video showed Miles Corbin standing at the west gate.
Dominic looked toward the dark corridor.
Either the evidence was lying—
May you like
or the security footage was.
---
